Deadly 1 BC Heat Dome, experts say the event may change ecology forever

Killed billions of flora and fauna in British ColumbiaHeat DomeA year after the event, scientists say the ecosystem is recovering. , Such events can change forever as they become more frequent.

Cold-water marine species can replace hot-water organisms and cause chained effects throughout the environment, says Christopher Harley, a professor of zoology at the University of British Columbia.

"If another heat wave hits this summer, that would be a problem," he said. "Ecosystems may be able to cope with large heat waves once every few decades. There is plenty of time to recover, but once they start to occur every four to five years, the species we are accustomed to. Can no longer survive. "

Dozens of temperature records were set during the heat dome. The high-pressure system settled in western Canada and acted as a lid to trap a layer of hot air that gradually heats up for about a week. Three consecutive records in Canada were set in the town ofLytton. There, temperatures peaked at 49.6 ° C on June 30, the day before the fire destroyed most of the village.

The heat has killed more than 600 people, BC Coroners Service reported. It also led to mass mortality of marine life, reduced crop yields, contributed to wildfires and later caused catastrophic landslides last fall.

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Diane Sri Bastava, director of the Canadian Institute for Ecosystem Evolution, is currently working to understand the impact of heat dome on species and ecosystems. Organized a group of scientists who are doing. She said some were "immediate and obvious," but "getting a complete picture of the long-term effects" requires years of data. Harley, a member of the

group, said the heat wave had surprised researchers and they are now struggling to "understand what it means for marine ecosystems." I have. "

"We didn't know what would happen if it was hot enough to kill billions of marine animals, so we know (ecological results). It's a little embarrassing to say no. "He said. "The heat dome was far beyond what everyone expected."

Scientists initially estimated that more than a billion marine animals died on the Pacific coast. Harley, who has been studying the West Coast coastline since 1995, said this was an underestimate.

"Easy billions of animals died," he said. "It was a perfect storm of several different things. Obviously much hotter than usual, their high temperatures were very consistent with low tide."

The mobile species is in shallow water. He explained that he had a higher survival rate than the species fixed to the rock.

"Mussel hasn't returned yet and some of the common seaweeds haven't returned, but barnacle babies are spending their time in their lives. They are everywhere, The first step in recovery is (when) they come, "he said. "This laid the foundation."

Read more:"Powerlessness" in Lytton, British Columbia The Wild at the University of British Columbia Adam Ford, assistant professor of biorecovery ecology and chairman of the Canadian Research Committee, said the mayor, as residents question the findings of the devastating wildfires. By heat than marine life.

"There was a few years of data under our belt, and during that time there was no increase in mortality, etc."

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He says this is a homeothermic area, which means that large mammals can regulate their body temperature, and cool areas to avoid direct heat.

Karen Hodges, a professor of conservation ecology at the University of British Columbia, says that most mobile animals and animals that dig holes in the soil follow the heat dome more than they can't escape immediately. He said it was likely to have worked during the wildfire. She said it is difficult to estimate total mortality because "many assumptions about animal density" are required before the fire.

The rate at which the local ecosystem recovers depends on environmental aspects such as soil moisture, but fire management Hodges says it depends on practice and response to climate change.

"The answer to what comes back is the question of what humans do to these landscapes for the next 10 years, or 20 years if you want to be generous, a small fire. , Or you can set conditions that allow for the repetition of these large-scale fires, "she said. "This is a crucial time."

Read more:Related to the activity of the wildfire train that destroyed Lytton, British Columbia No: Report

Ford reiterated a call for better wildfire practices to mitigate the effects of the heat wave.

"We already know that over the last 50 to 70 years, inadequate management practices such as climate change and fire extinguishing have really worsened the health of our forests. Therefore, the combination of these two results in a recipe for catastrophic failure that has permeated all kinds of areas of society, including biodiversity, "he said.

"We need to understand how to bring fire back to the landscape with the amount and intensity to restore wildlife and people's habitats."

Wilderness fires are forests A natural part of the ecosystem and important for maintaining the health and diversity of the forest, Natural Resources Canada says on its website.

"Open burning is valuable for improving the condition of the ecosystem and eliminating excess fuel buildup. We provide resource management tools, "said the website.

For decades, British Columbia scientists have called for the use of less severe fires to "maintain" forest health by creating firebreaks. According to Hodges, fire extinguishing efforts to protect the community have eliminated many of these natural breaks and made it easier for fires to spread.

She said the turning point was that a state report following the historic 2003 wildfire in British Columbia forced the evacuation of more than 45,000 people from within the state. Said.

"The report is full of all sorts of advice that the state doesn't basically do, such as how to burn a fire, the FireSmart community, and open burning, but that advice is at least that report," she said. Said.

According to Hodges, the massive fires are climate change, including the catastrophic floods in British Columbia. It can also exacerbate the weather events associated with. last fall. She said a fire that kills thousands of trees affects soil composition and can make it hydrophobic, which repels water. After that, when it rains heavily, water is not absorbed by the soil and landslides occur.

"This is much more common after these big, hot and deadly fires than after the little ordinary fires that happened in our history." She said.

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In a statement, the Ministry of Forestry said, "With some fuel management tools that help reduce the intensity of naturally occurring wildfires while returning essential processes to the ecosystem. He said he is using open burning as one of the techniques.

Rachel White, lead author of a report on the widespread ecological effects of heat waves in 2021 currently under peer review, said the lack of synthetic data is a major barrier to scientists. rice field.

"We have more frequent and hotter heat waves, which will affect all ecosystems. We need data to monitor them," she said. rice field.

"We need that data to really understand what the impact is. If we know how the system is responding now, how the system will be in the future if the climate continues. You'll get more information to show if you're responding. To warm up through human behavior. "

Harley, a professor of zoology, and his team are working to better understand why ecosystems are more or less sensitive to heat waves.

"There may be small changes we can make so that the ecosystem is more resistant to things like big heat waves and big droughts," he said. Told.

Sri Bastava is ecology Said the Institute for Evolution advocating the state's biodiversity monitoring network.

"This kind of event shows that a biodiversity monitoring network needs to be in place already, which allows for long-term monitoring of large populations. "She said. "Instead, all we have to do is collect data from many different sources to see immediate and then long-term effects."

She said. He said the development of the network was the "subject of recent ongoing conversations" with the state and federal governments.

B. C. The Ministry of the Environment has confirmed that it is working on the integration of ecology research and data on climate change as part of new climate measures and adaptation strategies.

"Understanding how climate change affects ecosystems is essential to responding to climate change," he said in a statement. "The state has set up an ecosystem prediction center within the Ministry of Forests to help build the expertise and resources to transform technical climate change predictions into British Columbia's ecosystem change predictions.

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